However certain of the way thou art,
Take not the self-appointed leader's part.
Follow no man, and by no man be led,
And no man lead.    AWAKE, and go ahead.
Thy path, though leading straight unto the goal
Might prove confusing to another soul.
The goal is central; but from east, and west,
And north, and south, we set out on the quest;
From lofty mountains, and from valleys low:-
How could all find one common way to go?

Lord Buddha to the wilderness was brought.
Lord Jesus to the Cross.    And yet, think not
By solitude, or cross, thou canst achieve,
Lest in thine own true Self thou dost believe.
Know thou art One, with life's Almighty Source,
Then are thy feet set on the certain Course.

Nor does it matter if thou feast, or fast,
Or what thy c...

Sometimes a light surprises
The Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord who rises
With healing in his wings:
When comforts are declining,
He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining,
To cheer it after rain.


In holy contemplation,
We sweetly then pursue
The theme of God’s salvation,
And find it ever new.
Set free from present sorrow,
We cheerfully can say,
E’en let the unknown to-morrow[1]
Bring with it what it may.


It can bring with it nothing,
But he will bear us through;
Who gives the lilies clothing,
Will clothe his people too;
Beneath the spreading heavens
No creature but is fed;
And he who feeds the ravens,
Will give his children bread.


The vine nor fig-tree nei...

Be not content - contentment means inaction;
    The growing soul aches on its upward quest;
Satiety is twin to satisfaction;
    All great achievements spring from life's unrest.

The tiny roots, deep in the dark mould hiding,
    Would never bless the earth with leaf and flower
Were not an inborn restlessness abiding
    In seed and germ, to stir them with its power.

Were man contented with his lot forever,
    He had not sought strange seas with sails unfurled,
And the vast wonder of our shores had never
    Dawned on the gaze of an admiring world.

Prize what is yours, but be not quite contented.
    There is a healthful restlessness of soul
By which a mighty purpose is augmented
    In urging men to reach a higher goal.

So when the r...

    You will be what you will to be;
Let failure find its false content
In that poor word "environment,"
    But spirit scorns it, and is free,

    It masters time, it conquers space,
It cows that boastful trickster Chance,
And bids the tyrant Circumstance
    Uncrown and fill a servant's place.

    The human Will, that force unseen,
The offspring of a deathless Soul,
Can hew the way to any goal,
    Though walls of granite intervene.

    Be not impatient in delay,
But wait as one who understands;
When spirit rises and commands,
    The gods are ready to obey.

    The river seeking for the sea
Confronts the dam and precipice,
Yet knows it cannot fail or miss;
    You will be what you will to be!

        Build on resolve, and not upon regret,
    The structure of thy future. Do not grope
        Among the shadows of old sins, but let
    Thine own soul's light shine on the path of hope
        And dissipate the darkness. Waste no tears
        Upon the blotted record of lost years,
        But turn the leaf and smile, oh, smile, to see
        The fair white pages that remain for thee.

        Prate not of thy repentance. But believe
    The spark divine dwells in thee: let it grow.
        That which the upreaching spirit can achieve
    The grand and all-creative forces know;
        They will assist and strengthen as the light
        Lifts up the acorn to the oak tree's height.
        Thou hast but to resolve, and lo! God's whole
        Great un...

To come in touch with mysteries
Of beauty idealizing Earth,
Go seek the hills, grown old with trees,
The old hills wise with death and birth.

There you may hear the heart that beats
In streams, where music has its source;
And in wild rocks of green retreats
Behold the silent soul of force.

Above the love that emanates
From human passion, and reflects
The flesh, must be the love that waits
On Nature, whose high call elects

None to her secrets save the few
Who hold that facts are far less real
Than dreams, with which all facts indue
Themselves approaching the Ideal.

Frail are the best of us, brothers
God's charity cover us all
Yet we ask for perfection in others,
And scoff when they stumble and fall.
Shall we give him a fish or a serpent
Who stretches his hand in his need?
Let the proud give a stone, but the manly
Will give him a hand full of bread.

Let us search our own hearts and behavior
Ere we cast at a brother a stone,
And remember the words of the Savior
To the frail and unfortunate one;
Remember when others displease us
The Nazarene's holy command,
For the only word written by Jesus
Was charity writ in the sand.

Of the terrible doubt of appearances,
Of the uncertainty after all - that we may be deluded,
That may-be reliance and hope are but speculations after all,
That may-be identity beyond the grave is a beautiful fable only,
May-be the things I perceive - the animals, plants, men, hills, shining and flowing waters,
The skies of day and night - colors, densities, forms - May-be these are, (as doubtless they are,) only apparitions, and the real something has yet to be known;
(How often they dart out of themselves, as if to confound me and mock me!
How often I think neither I know, nor any man knows, aught of them;)
May-be seeming to me what they are, (as doubtless they indeed but seem,) as from my present point of view - And might prove, (as of course they would,) naught of what they appear, or naught any ...

Father! to God himself we cannot give
A holier name! then lightly do not bear
Both names conjoined, but of thy spiritual care
Be duly mindful: still more sensitive
Do Thou, in truth a second Mother, strive
Against disheartening custom, that by Thee
Watched, and with love and pious industry
Tended at need, the adopted Plant may thrive
For everlasting bloom. Benign and pure
This Ordinance, whether, loss it would supply,
Prevent omission, help deficiency,
Or seek to make assurance doubly sure.
Shame if the consecrated Vow be found
An idle form, the Word an empty sound!

Lo, the poor Indian, whose untutored mind
Sees God in the clouds and hears Him in the wind.
--Pope.


Within the wind, my untaught ear
    The voice of Deity can hear,
And in the fleeting cloud discern
    His movements, vast and taciturn;
        For in the universe I trace
        The wondrous grandeur of His face.

I see him in each blade of grass,
    Each towering peak and mountain pass;
Each forest, river, lake and fen
    Reveals the God of worlds and men;
        His works of wisdom prove to me,
        A wise, creative Deity.

What thousands never knew the road!
What thousands hate it when ‘tis known!
None but the chosen tribes of God
Will seek or choose it for their own.


A thousand ways in ruin end,
One, only, leads to joys on high;
By that my willing steps ascend,
Pleased with a journey to the sky.


No more I ask, or hope to find,
Delight or happiness below;
Sorrow may well possess the mind
That feeds where thorns and thistles grow.


The joy that fades is not for me,
I seek immortal joys above;
There glory without end shall be
The bright reward of faith and love.


Cleave to the world, ye sordid worms,
Contented lick your native dust,
But God shall fight with all his storms
Against the idol of your trust.

Our altar is the dewy sod
Our temple yon blue throne of God:
No priestly rite our souls to bind
We bow before the Almighty Mind.

Oh, Thou whose realm is wide as air
Thou wilt not spurn the Gipsies' prayer:
Though banned and barred by all beside,
Be Thou the Outcast's guard and guide.

Poor fragments of a Nation wrecked
Its story whelmed in Time's neglect
We drift unheeded on the wave,
If God refuse the lost to save.

Yet though we name no Fatherland
And though we clasp no kindred hand
Though houseless, homeless wanderers we
Oh give us Hope, and Heaven with Thee!

Let Romanists all at the Confessional kneel,
    Let the Jew with disgust turn from it,
Let the mighty Crown Prelate in Church pander zeal,
    Let the Mussulman worship Mahomet.

From all these I differ—truly wise is my plan,
    With my doctrine, perhaps, you’ll agree,
To be upright and downright and act like a man,
    That’s the religion for me.

I will go to no Church and to no house of Prayer
    To see a white shirt on a preacher.
And in no Courthouse on a book will I swear
    To injure a poor fellow-creature.

For parsons and preachers are all a mere joke,
    Their hands must be greased by a fee;
But with the poor toiler to share your last “toke”*
    That’s the religion for me.

[Footnote: “Toke” is a slang word for bread.]
...

I was a grovelling creature once,
And basely cleaved to earth;
I wanted spirit to renounce
The clod that gave me birth.


But God has breathed upon a worm,
And sent me, from above,
Wings such as clothe an angel’s form,
The wings of joy and love.


With these to Pisgah’s top I fly,
And there delighted stand,
To view beneath a shining sky
The spacious promised land.


The Lord of all the vast domain
Has promised it to me;
The length and breadth of all the plain,
As far as faith can see.


How glorious is my privilege!
To thee for help I call;
I stand upon a mountain’s edge,
Oh save me, lest I fall!


Though much exalted in the Lord,
My strength is not my own;
Then let me tremble at h...

Spirit of beauty, and of heavenly song!
No longer seek in vain, 'mid the loud throng,
'Mid the discordant tumults of mankind,
One spirit, gentle as thyself, to find.

Oh! listen, and suspend thy upward wings,
Listen - for, hark! 'tis Caradori sings;
Hear, on the cadence of each thrilling note,
Airs scarce of earth, and sounds seraphic float!

See, in the radiant smile that lights her face;
See, in that form, a more than magic grace;
And say (repaid for every labour past)
Beautiful spirit, thou art found at last!

Yes, if the intensities of hope and fear
Attract us still, and passionate exercise
Of lofty thoughts, the way before us lies
Distinct with signs, through which in set career,
As through a zodiac, moves the ritual year
Of England's Church; stupendous mysteries!
Which whoso travels in her bosom eyes,
As he approaches them, with solemn cheer.
Upon that circle traced from sacred story
We only dare to cast a transient glance,
Trusting in hope that Others may advance
With mind intent upon the King of Glory,
From his mild advent till his countenance
Shall dissipate the seas and mountains hoary.

Spare me, dread angel of reproof,
And let the sunshine weave to-day
Its gold-threads in the warp and woof
Of life so poor and gray.

Spare me awhile; the flesh is weak.
These lingering feet, that fain would stray
Among the flowers, shall some day seek
The strait and narrow way.

Take off thy ever-watchful eye,
The awe of thy rebuking frown;
The dullest slave at times must sigh
To fling his burdens down;

To drop his galley's straining oar,
And press, in summer warmth and calm,
The lap of some enchanted shore
Of blossom and of balm.

Grudge not my life its hour of bloom,
My heart its taste of long desire;
This day be mine: be those to come
As duty shall require.

The deep voice answered to my own,
Smiting my sel...

Queen of the stars! so gentle, so benign,
That ancient Fable did to thee assign,
When darkness creeping o'er thy silver brow
Warned thee these upper regions to forego,
Alternate empire in the shades below
A Bard, who, lately near the wide-spread sea
Traversed by gleaming ships, looked up to thee
With grateful thoughts, doth now thy rising hail
From the close confines of a shadowy vale.
Glory of night, conspicuous yet serene,
Nor less attractive when by glimpses seen
Through cloudy umbrage, well might that fair face,
And all those attributes of modest grace,
In days when Fancy wrought unchecked by fear,
Down to the green earth fetch thee from thy sphere,
To sit in leafy woods by fountains clear!

O still beloved (for thine, meek Power, are charms
That...